


Time To Come Out Of The Dark

by WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex's parents run the LA institute, Alternate Universe - Shadow World Setting (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Alternate Universe - Shadowhunter Chronicles Fusion, Basically the plot of TMI but changed slightly, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Multi, Rose was a shadowhunter, Tia Victoria is a Badass, Willie is the high warlock of LA, You're Welcome, and there's no weird incest plot like the clace one, apart from Bobby, because he's a werewolf, but really victoria does, can you imagine him as magnus though?, can you imagine?, most of sunset curve are shadowhunters, yeah now that's in your head
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29662134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter/pseuds/WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter
Summary: A year after Rose’s death, Julie turns sixteen, but when she runs into a boy named Luke Patterson, and is hurled head first into an unfamiliar world unlike her own known as the Downworld, she fights to find the key to her mother’s demon-hunting past as she uncovers secret after secret, only ending up with more questions.Did she even know her mother at all?
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Carrie Wilson, Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	1. Slipping Into The Deep End, In Over My Head

**Author's Note:**

> hey, so i was thinking at 2am about how rose would've probably made a kickass shadowhunter and her and her sister would've been parabatai, but then she'd have fallen in love with ray and been exiled, which would mean julie and carlos have angel blood so....
> 
> chapter title and paragraph breaks from the song 'deep end' by ruelle, in two shadowhunters fashion.

It had taken a bit of convincing, but Flynn had managed to get Julie to cave and let her bring her to the coolest club in LA - The Orpheum. They were dancing enough, but the music wasn’t entirely to Julie’s taste. She was only just getting back into music, after the year she spent unable to sing or play a note after her mother’s death, and the music here? Definitely didn’t live up to the hype. Her mind wandered as she looked around, eyes falling on a boy with blue hair. He was cute, she’d give him that. 

Flynn followed her line of sight, “You know, you _could_ go talk to him…” She trailed off when the boy’s gaze latched onto someone else, a tall girl with light hair in a mesmerising silver dress with a pendant around her neck that seemed determined to draw their attention. The lights of the dance floor reflected off it, and Julie wondered what kind of gemstone it was. 

But Julie’s attention was still on the boy from before, and as he followed the girl in silver, she realised with a frown that three other boys were tailing them. They were all dressed in black, and they weaved through the crowd effortlessly almost as if they’d perfected the art of blending into the background. It wasn’t the first time that Julie had noticed a couple disappearing to get some privacy, but she hadn’t noticed anyone _follow_ them before, and it set her on edge. The girl and the blue-haired guy disappeared into a door labelled _No Admittance,_ and the three guys in black reconvened outside the door, until one of them reached into his jacket and pulled out something sharp-looking that she recognised almost immediately. “Flynn,” she tugged on her best friend’s sleeve. “Those guys over there have a knife!” 

“What? Where?” 

“They were following the blue-haired guy and the girl in silver.”

Flynn looked around, almost looking directly at them before she said, “I still don’t see anyone. Let me grab one of the security guards. Don’t move.” She disappeared through the crowd and Julie turned back just as the three boys moved through the door and after the girl and the guy from before. Despite all signs pointing to _this is a fucking stupid idea,_ she started to push through the crowd to follow them. 

At first glance, the room behind the door seemed empty, but then she turned her head and spotted them. The girl in silver had somehow tied the punk kid to a pillar, and was talking to the three boys who had followed them inside. The tallest of the three boys was blond, and his hand tapped an unsteady beat against his leg as he glanced at the blue-haired boy in his restraints. Then there was another boy, dark-haired and with a tattoo creeping up his neck, half-covered by his leather jacket. But once she noticed the tattoo on him, it was easy to notice the ones on the others. The shortest of the three boys— although even from a distance he seemed taller than Julie herself— had shed his jacket, and the moonlight through one of the windows highlighted the swirling patterns on his arms. There were symbols that Julie didn’t recognise, but she somehow had the feeling that she’d seen one of them before, and another one— the one on the back of his hand— definitely looked like an eye. 

She ducked down behind a pillar and peered out from behind it, trying to catch their conversation. 

_“Demons,”_ the sleeveless boy recited. “Are there any other _demons_ with you?” 

_Demons?_ It’s official, they were crazy. 

“I could give you information?” The blue-haired boy tried. “I know where Covington is.” 

“Covington is dead. Right, Reg?” Sleeveless turned to the other dark-haired boy who nodded. 

“That dude is definitely no longer kicking,” Reg supplied. “But if he _was_ dead, why is it that everyone is convinced he’s alive?” 

The girl in the dress ignored him, “If it’s not going to tell us anything, we might as well just kill it. Luke?”

Sleeveless— _Luke,_ raised the knife that Julie had noticed before and spun it in his hand, and it was even more surprising to see that the blade itself was actually clear. 

The blue-haired boy tried one last time. “He’s back, everyone knows it. Caleb Covington is alive and I can tell you where he is if you let me go!” 

“By the Angel, this is what? The third time one of you lot’s said that? Give it a rest, will you?” He lifted the knife and Julie jumped out from her hiding spot, fully aware of the danger they now posed to her. 

_“STOP!”_ She yelled, and Luke was so startled he actually dropped the knife. 

The four of them exchanged looks, ignoring the blue-haired boy and turning their attention entirely to Julie. “Who the hell are you?” 

“Who the hell are _you?”_ Julie spluttered back. “You can’t just kill someone in the back room of a club!” 

The girl scoffed, “Would you rather we did it in the alleyway out back?” 

The blonde boy turned to face her and sighed, “Give me a minute, Carrie. How about we let someone with a _softer_ touch handle this.”

Carrie snorted, “Sure, tell me when he gets here then.” 

“Alex—” Reg warned, “She’s either a mundane with the Sight, or she’s a warlock.” 

Luke raised an eyebrow, “Judging by the look on her face at that, she doesn’t know what either of those things are.”

Alex approached her cautiously, “Maybe you should go?” 

She shook her head. “If I leave, you’ll kill that guy.” 

“She’s not wrong,” Reg piped up from behind. 

_“Reggie,”_ Carrie warned. “Anyway, mundie, why do _you_ care if we kill him?” 

“Because you can’t just go around killing people!” 

Luke rolled his eyes. “People, no. But that’s not a person.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the blue-haired boy tore free from his restraints and tackled Luke, tearing at his clothes with limbs that had become sharp as knives. Julie stared in horror, attempting to back up only to trip on something and send herself straight to the ground. 

Soon, a whip had appeared in Carrie’s hand and more knives had emerged from various hiding places as Reggie and Alex wielded them, trying to get a clear shot at the— the— _thing_ on Luke’s chest. Carrie’s whip curled around it for a second and Alex swiped at it with his blade as it rolled away from Luke, who produced another knife and buried it in the blue-haired thing’s chest before staggering to his feet. 

Almost immediately after getting stabbed, the _thing_ disappeared, the only trace of it was the black blood staining the floor and splattering Luke’s skin. He hissed in pain as Reggie inspected three gashes on his arm, pulling away but to no avail as the other boy tugged his arm back towards him to inspect the wound. “This is what you get for not wearing sleeves, _Lucas,”_ he sighed, pulling a small object out of his own jacket pocket. “The demons do not care about your arms.” 

“You don’t know what they’re into?” He protested weakly, before letting Reggie tend to his injury with minimal complaints. 

Carrie stared at Julie as she picked herself up and moved towards the door. “What do we do with the mundie?” 

“We… we let her go,” Luke decided, as the door swung open and Flynn barged in, security guard in tow. 

“Where’d they go? The people with knives, did you see where they went?” The security guard asked. 

Julie’s eyes flicked between Luke, covered in blood, who shrugged noncommittally, to Carrie, who only seemed amused, to Alex, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, to Reggie, who appeared to be drawing on Luke’s arm. 

“Julie?” Flynn prompted, “You okay?” 

She sent one last look in the direction of the people she’d just met, before turning back to Flynn. Seeing invisible people? She’d think she’d gone off the deep end. “I thought they went in here, guess not.”

* * *

_// where can i_ _go when the shadows are calling? //_

* * *

“She could see us, Luke, doesn’t that bother you?” Alex asked, concerned, as he notched another arrow. 

Luke shrugged, balancing passing a knife between his hands before hurling it at the other target. “Not really. Am I interested? A little. But bothered? Not really. Mundies have the Sight every now and then, it’s not a big deal.” 

“It’s just… I don’t know,” he sighed. “Something feels off. I feel like I’ve met her before? Or at least seen her somewhere.” 

Reggie perked up from where he was practising a rune on a bench behind them. “I agree with Alex, I definitely feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.” 

“You’re overreacting,” Carrie replied, “I can feel it. It’s fine. What are the chances we run into her again anyway? It’s a big city, we can just forget she exists.” 

“Yeah, forget about her,” Luke agreed half-heartedly. “Carrie’s right.” Except he couldn’t seem to forget about her. In fact, she’d barely left his mind since he last saw her— not that he was going to tell any of the others that. He had no reason to be preoccupied with a mundane they’d met once. 

That didn’t mean Julie wasn’t going to continue to be an almost permanent fixture in his mind for the next few hours. 

“Where’s Victoria? I thought she said she’d be back by now,” Reggie frowned. “She said she was going to make pasteles before she left for her ranch.”

“How is your mind always on food?” Carrie laughed.

Reggie shrugged. “It’s 40% music, 40% food, and 20% demon-hunting.” 

“That should be a higher percentage of demon hunting,” she warned. 

His gaze shifted over to Luke. “Could be worse. At least I’m not 80% music, 5% food, 10% song lyrics— completely different to thinking about music— and 5% demon hunting? Three guesses to figure out who I’m talking about.” 

“You missed one,” Luke raised an eyebrow at his parabatai. “10% Reggie is a dork.” 

“That would be 110%,” Reggie pointed out, completely missing the joke. “Which is impossible.” 

Alex burst out laughing, rolling his eyes at them as he let another arrow go into the centre of the target.

Luke reached over and kicked the stereo into action. “Any requests?” Before they had an answer, he switched it to a random station and The Killers started playing. 

“You know my parents don’t like it when you listen to mundane music,” Alex pointed out. 

“But Victoria says it’s fine, so what they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Carrie smiled at him. 

Luke stood up, _“I’m throwing caution, what’s it gonna be? Tonight, the winds of change are blowing wild and free…”_

Reggie joined him, spinning his parabatai under his arm as Carrie tried to hide her laughter and Alex rolled his eyes, tapping his quiver along to the beat. _“If I don’t get out, out of this town, I just might be the one who finally burns it down.”_


	2. Hold On For Dear Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter title and chapter breaks from Fear On Fire by Ruelle

When the door swung open and Julie’s dad and Carlos returned from Carlos’ baseball game, Tía Victoria in tow, she knew that her dad was hiding something. She could see it on his face instantly, and it wasn’t to do with her coming home late last night. “What’s going on?” Julie frowned at him. “Papi, you’re hiding something.” 

“Not…  _ hiding _ something, we just haven’t told you yet,” her tía wrapped her in a hug. “We’re going to my farmhouse for a vacation.” 

Julie narrowed her eyes at her, reciprocating the hug anyway. “For how long?” 

Ray looked away, running a hand through his hair, so Carlos supplied the answer. “The rest of summer.” 

“The rest of—  _ what?” _ Julie spluttered, “You can’t be serious! Dad!” 

“It was my idea,” Victoria stepped in. “We could do with a break from the city,  _ mija.” _

“I don’t want to go! I have plans, this summer,” she protested. “Flynn wanted to throw a back to school party, and Elliot was going to host that dance class, and this isn’t fair!” 

“It’s—” Ray looked to Victoria before continuing. “It’s non-negotiable. Honey, I’m sorry.” 

Victoria whispered to him. “Stand your ground, we need to leave soon.” 

But it was still loud enough for Julie to hear. “What? How soon, Tía?” 

She was interrupted by Flynn pushing open the door and pocketing her key. “Jules, you’ve not answered any of my texts, so I came to see if you were coming to Eats and Beats?” 

Julie grabbed her bag and stood up, dropping her phone inside. “Sorry, Flynn, it was on charge. But yeah, I’m coming.” 

“Julie,” her dad warned. “You’re grounded.” 

She rolled her eyes and drawled, “Well you’ve basically grounded me for the rest of the summer, so why  _ can’t _ I take today?” And with that, she hooked her arm through Flynn’s and slammed the door behind them, taking a breather midway down the stairs to process what had happened. 

“Jules, what’s going on? You’re grounded?” Flynn stopped her from going any further, catching her wrist. “Talk to me.” 

“My dad and tia want to go to tia’s cabin for  _ the rest of summer,” _ she groaned. Flynn let her hand go and frowned. 

“Shit, Jules. Why?” 

Julie waved her hand vaguely, “A bunch of reasons that don’t really make sense. Come on, let’s just go to Eats and Beats.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure this’ll blow over and they’ll rethink it. How are you holding up, with your mom’s anniversary coming up?” Flynn nudged her as they walked. 

“I think I’ll be okay.” 

They arrived at Eats and Beats and took a table by the window as someone finished their performance, a duo singing  _ Little Talks _ by Of Monsters and Men. Julie’s phone buzzed and she picked it up.

> _ MISSED CALL(S): 1 - TIA _

“I’ll call her later,” she decided, letting it go to voicemail. 

Flynn stood up, nodding towards the counter, “You want anything?” 

“Just cocoa,” she replied, as the voicemail count stacked up. 

> _ MISSED CALL(S): 2 - TIA _

Guilt bubbled up inside of her but she put her phone on silent and looked back towards the new people performing. They were butchering the intro to a song she could even place from how badly they were playing it on an out of tune guitar. It was almost painful to watch, so Julie looked around for something,  _ anything _ else to focus on until they were finished. She felt eyes on her and turned around to find Luke watched her from a sofa in the corner. The guitarist on stage hit a particularly foul note and both of them winced, still holding eye contact. 

Before Julie could get up and do something stupid, like go over and talk to him, Flynn returned with the drinks. She followed Julie’s line of sight and frowned. “What are you looking at?” 

“Just the art on the walls,” she lied quickly. 

Luke stood up, unable to take any more of the song, even as it drew to a close, and made for the exit. He leant against the wall outside, trying to wipe the horrific guitar playing from his mind. Any other time he’d have broken protocol and unglamoured, borrowing someone’s guitar and showing them how to  _ actually _ play. But the Mercer’s would kill him if he did (obviously not Alex, but his parents weren’t exactly the nicest). Besides, Victoria had given him an assignment, and he didn’t want to let her down. 

He wasn’t expecting to see Julie so soon after meeting her for the first time, but when he got a call from Victoria and an attached picture of her niece, who could end up being in danger, Luke wasn’t against the opportunity. It also explained why she was a mundane who could see them, she had to have angel blood. Every now and then Shadowhunters would end up in exile, or they would do it purposefully if they fell in love with a mundane. Luke admittedly didn’t know much about Victoria’s family, but she had a sister she didn’t talk about, and a faded parabatai mark, so that had to count for something. Although it did feel a little…  _ wrong _ to be watching over Julie when she didn’t seem to know anything about the Downworld. 

From the way she nodded along to the good duet and looked on the verge of  _ murder _ at the bad guitar solo, he could tell she appreciated good music. The assignment wouldn’t be for long, just make sure Julie got home safely so Victoria could take her family to the ranch, but he wasn’t going to neglect it. He looked up when the door to the cafe swung open and Julie herself appeared, watching him curiously. 

“Why are you following me?” 

Okay, so they were skipping straight to that. 

Luke shrugged, “Why would I be following you?” 

He’d been specifically told not to tell Julie what he was doing, or that her aunt sent him. He’d also decided not to tell Victoria about what had happened at the Orpheum, and had convinced the others to agree.

Julie finally took a long look at Luke, at the tattoo creeping up the side of his neck and the one that looked like an eye on his right hand. “Why are you here then? If you’re not following me?” 

Luke evaded the question, checking the time on his phone. “It’s almost dark, you should be going home.” 

“Scared of the dark?” She joked. 

Before he could reply, her phone started to ring again. She was just about to decline the call when she realised it wasn’t her aunt, it was her dad. 

“Julie? Julie, thank god,” he sounded panicked. In the background, she could just about hear Tía Victoria yell at Carlos to  _ move, _ before she got cut off and a loud crash rang out down the line, so loud Julie almost had to move the phone away from her ear a little. 

“Dad? Dad, what’s going on?” Julie’s breathing sped up. “I’m coming home—” 

_ “No! _ Julie, don’t come home. Whatever you do, don’t come home. Victoria says to go with Luke, she trusts him, he’ll take you to the old church and we’ll meet you—” 

He was cut off by the sound of something else crashing to the ground and the phone screeched with a noise so horrific Julie scrambled to stop herself from dropping it. 

“Dad!” She called out. “Dad! Carlos!”

Luke’s expression creased in concern and he reached out a hand to put on her shoulder, “Julie? What’s going on?” 

“Why did— he mentioned you, why would he mention you? Why would…” She frantically dialled the house phone but all she got in response was the dial tone. With shaking hands, she tried to call her brother. The phone kept ringing. “No… no… no…” It slipped through her fingers and clattered to the ground. 

“Julie,” he tried again. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” 

She looked at Luke for a second, then her phone, and broke into a run towards home. 

_ “Shit,” _ Luke groaned, grabbing her phone and pocketing it before breaking into a run and attempting to follow her. 

* * *

_ // vanish into the night with me, we’re racing heartbeats // _

* * *

She darted through traffic, narrowly avoiding a cyclist that swore at her as the air got more humid and Julie kept running through it all. She bumped into someone coming out of a store and apologised profusely over her shoulder, the effort almost getting her caught at a stoplight if she hadn’t darted across as it changed. It wasn’t a short distance back to her house but it wasn’t too long exactly, just a lot easier to walk than run at full speed, soon giving her a stitch. 

The car wasn’t there. 

By all odds, the car should’ve been there, and it wasn’t. 

Julie realised almost a second too late that she left her keys in her bag which she left on the chair opposite Flynn at Eats and Beats, but that didn’t end up mattering at all because as she approached the door it fell off its hinges and landed on the floor with a crash. She yelped, caught off guard. 

Inside the house, all the lights were on, and everything was a mess. One of the sofas was splattered in an unknown liquid, and the sliding glass between the kitchen and the living room was shattered, with glass decorating the floor as far as Julie could see. It crunched underneath her sneakers as she looked around, her voice filled with uncertainty as she called out. “Dad? Tia? I’m home.” 

No answer. 

“I’m sorry for storming out,” she tried again. “Carlos?” 

_ Nothing.  _

“Papi?” Julie picked up the pace, rounding the corner quickly. Had someone broken in? That didn’t make any sense, because usually if you’re planning on robbing the place you’d at least take some of the valuables, right?

_ What the hell happened? _

She found Carlos’ phone first. Either he left in a hurry, or dropped it in the chaos because it was virtually unharmed and the lockscreen had one missed call from herself on it. She picked it up and put it in her pocket, and it wasn’t long before Julie came across what was left of her Dad’s phone. That must have been how the call ended, half of the phone was visible, the other half was… scattered technology across the floor. 

Before Julie could panic further, something thudded behind her. She whirled around, grabbing the nearest thing to defend herself— which just happened to be her violin bow. At first glance, the room looked empty. Then her gaze lowered and Julie was faced with something horrific that looked like something out of a horror movie. It was layered in scales, apart from the head (at least that’s what she  _ hoped _ was the head), which had a snout and a cluster of eyes. The other end was home to a barbed tail. The creature growled and lunged at her, causing Julie to fall backwards over an overturned dining room chair. 

She scrambled back, waving the bow to try and keep it at bay as the barbed tail swished menacingly. It lunged again and Julie rolled out of the way, it almost seemed to say something, but Julie couldn’t make it out. A name—  _ Covington? _ Who the hell was that? Wasn’t that what the  _ thing _ at the Orpheum had said? It lunged at her again and she swiped the bow at it. It had little to no effect, but when the creature next opened its mouth and lunged at her, almost pinning Julie to the ground, she shoved the bow into its mouth until it almost disappeared. 

Julie tried to crawl away, and she attempted to get to her feet when something struck her across the back and she fell forwards, out before she hit the ground. 

* * *

_ // feel the power arrest me, make shadows on concrete // _

* * *

When Julie came to, everything was hurting. Her head felt like it was about to explode and the pain was so strong she was tempted to push herself up onto her elbows just to dry-heave onto the grass beside her. Luke was leaning over her, tearing pieces of cloth— which she soon realised after looking at his bare arms was formerly the sleeves of his shirt— into pieces. Her body shuddered without her permission every time she tried to move and each movement, no matter how small, sent pain sparking through her body. 

Luke leant over her and slipped the strip of cloth under neck, tying it gently. “We need to go. Your family is okay, they’re already at the Institute.” 

“They’re  _ where?” _

“Look, the Ravener demon’s poison is in your body  _ right now. _ Your aunt wants me to bring you back with me anyway but if you don’t come then you’ll be dead within the hour. Please come with me?” He pulled her upright and held her steady as Julie stumbled, the aforementioned poison making her head spin. “Can you walk?” 

“I can try,” Julie decided. She looked over at where the police cars were pulling up outside.

Luke swore under his breath, “Is there another way out? That doesn’t involve passing the probably-not-cops?”

“What do you mean they probably aren’t cops?” She mumbled, knees buckling beneath her. 

He caught her just in time, explaining as he used his free hand to pull out something from his jacket. “Probably demons in disguise, trying to cover their tracks.” He lifted the weird object up and the silver stick glistened in the moonlight until he pressed it to the inside of her wrist and started to draw. It stung a little at first but Julie was too blinded by the other pain to care. When he finished, a symbol identical to one of his tattoos was on her arm, like two interlocking circles. 

“What…” She trailed off, rapidly losing the energy to speak. 

“It’ll hide you temporarily,” Luke replied, following her gaze down to the thing in his hand. “That’s my stele. Reggie will explain it better later, he loves talking about this stuff.” 

“Luke…” Julie warned, as her body went numb and she sagged against him. 

He refused to let her hit the ground, hoisting her up into his arms. “I’ve got you, Julie. Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” 

His voice was the last thing she heard before everything went dark again. 


	3. Nowhere To Hide From All Of This Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter title and chapter breaks from 'madness' by ruelle

“Where’s Victoria?” Luke shouted, pushing open the Institute door. He was surrounded within seconds by other Shadowhunters. “Someone find Victoria!” 

Carrie shot down the stairs, staring at the girl in Luke’s arms as she pushed people out the way. “What the fuck? Why did you bring her here? Shit, Luke don’t tell me you  _ runed _ her?” 

“Had to,” he grunted, shifting Julie’s weight to carry her better. “Goddamn Ravener demon got her.” 

“How did you know she wouldn’t turn forsaken?” Carrie kicked open the door to the next hallway with her boot. "Hell of a risk."

“Because she’s Victoria’s niece, she has angel blood,” he explained as they reached the infirmary. “Door.” 

_ “Damn.  _ I’ve got it, don’t worry. Huh, not a mundane after all,” Carrie looked her up and down. “I’ll grab Reggie.” 

“And Victoria?” He prompted, laying Julie down on the only free bed not taken up. “Who are they?” 

Carrie sighed, “More of Victoria’s secret relatives. Pretty sure the kid has angel blood, the dad doesn’t. He’s just a mundie with the Sight. They took a beating and somehow thought they’d be welcome here? The Mercers almost turned them away but they name-dropped Victoria  _ and _ her sister Rose, which had to mean something because it got them through the door at least.” 

“Where the hell is Victoria?” Luke pushed, just as Alex and Reggie came rushing through the doors. She shifted awkwardly, not giving an answer. “Carrie, where the fuck is Victoria?” 

“She didn’t come back with them. She’s been taken,” Alex answered when she couldn’t. “Now move out of the way so we can get to Julie.” 

Reggie dropped to his knees next to her. “Angel blood? Figured. Do we need to call the silent brothers?” 

“Reg, just do whatever you need to do,” Luke sat down next to the bed, catching his breath for a second. Stamina runes were pretty handy, but they wore off a little too quickly if you were overexerting yourself and he did just run several blocks with a girl in his arms. Almost as if he’d read his mind, Alex handed Luke a glass of water that had materialised in the few seconds he’d been catching his breath. 

“Drink,” he ordered. 

Luke cooperated gladly. “Is she— Is Julie going to be alright?” 

“Think so,” Reggie replied. “But it was close.”

* * *

_ // cut me deep, these secrets and lies // _

* * *

When Julie woke up, her dad was sitting by her bedside. She threw her arms around him and he clutched her tightly. When she finally let go, she realised how light-headed she still felt and it took all her strength to push herself up against the pillows to sit upright. 

“Oh, Nick said to give you this when you woke up,” Ray passed her a small cup and Julie downed it in one, instantly feeling better. “You’ve been out for a while, so you’re probably hungry.” 

“Where’s Carlos?” She panicked for a second, realising her brother was nowhere within sight. 

Ray eased her back down on the bed, “He's fine,  _ mija. _ He’s with one of the boys— Reggie. They’ve been getting along well in the three days you’ve been unconscious.” 

“Three days?” Julie blinked. “Did Tía bring you here?”

“I already knew where this place was…” he trailed off. “Your aunt told us to come here, and that she would follow. They sent two Shadowhunters back after Luke arrived with you, but since he didn’t see anything, and they didn’t see anything… We can assume that she’s been taken.” 

Julie frowned, “Taken? By who?” 

“It’s a long story, honey. One I didn’t think I’d have to explain so soon. Carrie left clothes for you in the bathroom. I have to go talk to the Mercers, but one of the boys offered to show you around later?” He checked his phone before looking back at Julie. “I will explain everything soon, I promise,” Ray kissed her forehead gently before leaving the infirmary and Julie sat on the bed for a second, very close to being overwhelmed, before she finally found the energy to go to the bathroom. 

Carrie’s clothes were… Well, they were very obviously Carrie’s. The dark leggings had mesh patches on and little pink swirls up the side, and the cropped t-shirt hung off one of Julie’s shoulders, an insignia of a brand she didn’t recognise decorating the small pocket. It wasn’t that much like what Julie would usually wear, but evidently something had happened to the sweatshirt and plaid pants combo she’d been wearing last time she was conscious… and Julie had a feeling she wouldn’t be seeing them again. 

There was no point in even trying to attempt to do her hair properly, since there was none of her usual products there. The normal hair routine took at least an hour on a good day, and considering it wasn’t a good day… it wasn’t a situation that had any good outcome. Julie tried to drag a brush through it but the brush better suited Carrie’s hair than it did hers so it didn’t exactly go very well. 

Her shoes were the only part of her previous outfit that had been salvaged, apparently. Well, if anything was to be left then at least her sneakers were still here. She slipped her feet into them and started to explore the institute. 

It had taken Julie a while to get back to music after her mom died. She got kicked out of the school music program at the end of last year for not participating— much to her teacher’s dismay— but over the summer she gradually got used to listening to music again. Julie still hadn’t played or sang in almost a year, but at least she could appreciate music again without being haunted by the memories of making it with her mom. 

Which is exactly why she picked up on the gentle guitar strumming as she left the infirmary. It wasn’t hard to follow the source of the noise, considering the rest of the building was so quiet, as far as she could see. The music led her through two sets of doorways and towards what Julie realised was a music room as soon as she set foot in it. A drumkit sat in the corner and there was a bass guitar on a stand by the wall. Luke was sitting on the floor with his back against a couch, stopping every so often to scribble into a notebook that was balanced on his knee. That explained why it wasn’t a tune she recognised, he was putting it together piece by piece. 

But what really caught Julie’s eye was the piano,  _ oh, the piano… _ The grand piano was just below the window, the light reflecting off the top of it. There was sheet music resting on it, but she didn’t look at it straight away, choosing to walk around it almost in a trance, running her finger along the top. It looked almost like the one that used to sit in their garage, until Tía sold it to…  _ oh. _

This was her mom’s piano. 

The thought of it almost brought tears to her eyes, but before her mind had a chance to wander, Luke finally noticed her arrival. “Oh! Julie, hey. How are you feeling?” 

“Better,” she managed a small smile. “This was my mom’s piano.” 

“It’s beautiful,” he stood up, putting the guitar to one side. “When it arrived a few months ago I could barely believe it. I’m pretty sure Reggie slept in here for two days just so he could be near it. Which, fair, I barely left this room for a week when I got my first guitar. Do you play?” 

“No,” Julie replied quickly. “I don’t play. My mom did. Do you play piano? Or is it just guitar?” 

“I do, a little. Well, actually I play guitar, piano, a bit of bass, violin and ukulele,” he explained brightly. 

She laughed, thinking of how similar they were. Rose first taught her piano, even though she also played guitar, and Julie had taken violin lessons until she was thirteen. “Wow.” Unfortunately, her mom never got around to teaching her guitar. “Anyone else use this room? Or is it just you?” 

“The boys and I are in a band,” Luke grinned. “Sunset Curve. Alex is on drums and Reggie plays the bass. I’m the lead singer and guitarist. We used to have a rhythm guitarist… but Bobby had to leave the Institute because— because reasons.” 

_ Because reasons? _ Julie decided not to question it, no matter how suspicious that answer was. Instead, she asked: “What happened to my old clothes?” 

Luke looked her up and down, “Oh, that’s Carrie’s stuff then? Yeah, we had to burn them. They were covered in ichor and blood.” 

“Ichor?” 

“Kind of like blood, it’s whatever remains of the demon when it dies,” he explained. “Doesn’t wash out, like at  _ all.  _ It also usually burns if it gets on your skin for too long, so try to avoid that.” 

She eyed him warily, “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“You want a tour?” He jumped at the opportunity to show her around. 

Julie nodded, “Gladly.” 

The Institute was massive. They passed bedroom after bedroom as Luke explained that this area was the residential wing, housing any Shadowhunter that needed to stay. Most of the rooms were empty and bare of any personal touches, apart from a few. That was how Julie found out the usual inhabitants of the Institute were Alex and his parents, Tia Victoria, Reggie, Luke, Carrie and Nick. There was also a library, and a common area, and a greenhouse. So far, the music room remained Julie’s favourite place. 

They bumped into Nick, and he introduced himself. “Good to see you’re up on your feet,” he smiled sympathetically. “Oh, Luke, I think the Mercers are going to Idris tomorrow— the plans are the same, even with everything that’s going on— do you want them to take anything to your parents?” 

Luke’s expression clouded and Julie tried to get a read on him. Why did the mention of his parents have that reaction? 

“No thanks,” he replied curtly. “Does this mean Alex is in charge?” 

“Sort of. I think they want to take Mr Molina, Julie, and Carlos with them. There’s some rule allowing mundanes to stay here in ‘certain circumstances’, but they’re being shitty about it as per usual, so I wouldn’t count on them sticking around. Sorry about that, Julie, you seem cool,” he waved at them before disappearing down the corridor. 

Julie stared after him for a moment before turning to Luke for an explanation. “I have questions.” 

“Yeah, I expected that. Idris is like Shadowhunter home country. That’s where most of us grew up. The Mercers travel back and forth between here and there a lot, because they run this institute. I ended up here because Reggie was coming, I wasn’t originally supposed to join him but they can’t split up parabatai, so we both came. Alex already lived here with his parents, and Carrie joined a little while after.”

“The background info is useful, yeah, but what I meant was  _ why _ would they be sending me and my family to the Shadowhunter country when none of us are Shadowhunters?” She elaborated.

“Oh,” Luke hesitated for a minute. “Well, you’re not  _ not _ a Shadowhunter.” 

“I—  _ what?” _

“Your aunt is a Shadowhunter, your mom was a Shadowhunter, Shadowhunter means they have angel blood. Angel blood is dominant,” he explained slowly. “So, you have angel blood.” 

Julie raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m a Shadowhunter?” 

“Well, you’re not  _ not _ a Shadowhunter.” 

“You said that already,” she pointed out, trying to take it all in. 

Her mom was a _Shadowhunter_. Did she really know anything about her at all?

* * *

_ // feel the fury closing in, all resistance wearing thin // _

* * *

Ray sat down on the couch next opposite where Carlos and Reggie were in an excited conversation about something demon related. Julie perched on the end of one of the chairs, unable to relax and unable to find a place where she felt like she fit. Her thoughts had been a mess of what she thought she knew about her mother, and what she’d discovered in the last few hours. 

Luke couldn’t imagine what she was going through. Once he put the pieces together, it was easy to imagine what Victoria’s sister was like. It wasn’t unusual for Shadowhunters to end up in exile for falling in love with a mundane, but usually when they did, they didn’t end up so close to an institute. Plus, Victoria was basically family. She took in him and Reggie when his parabatai put in a request to go to an institute— anywhere that wasn’t Idris— and Carrie when her parents disowned her brother after he got bitten by a werewolf and turned, and she refused to leave him. He ended up joining the LA pack, and she ended up at the Institute, just in time to form a strong connection with Alex and ultimately end up as his parabatai. 

“So, I think it’s time I told you about your mother,” Ray addressed Julie and Carlos, and all chatter in the room stopped immediately. “The others are allowed to be here because your Tia trusted them, and any of this information could help in finding her whereabouts.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us mom was a Shadowhunter before? Why didn’t she?” Carlos asked, looking between Julie and his dad. “She had a whole other life!” 

“She thought she’d left that behind her, but that’s not where this starts. I’m going to tell you her story from the beginning, the  _ very _ beginning. Rose was born in Idris, just like most of the Nephilim— that’s another word for Shadowhunter— and she lived there until she was around your age. Shadowhunters are allowed a travel year before they choose which Institute they want to remain at, instead of just going where they are needed. Both her and your aunt decided to come here, and that’s where I met them. I have the Sight, which means I can see Shadowhunters and Downworlders without having either angel or demon blood. 

“I worked for a nearby news agency at the time, and there were strange things happening. I was a photographer, and I saw the two of them on patrol and tried to get a photo, but when I looked at the photos later on there wasn’t anything there. That caught my attention, so I tried to track them down again and ended up finding a rogue vampire clan, and that ended up catching  _ her _ attention, because who would end up saving me but her and her parabatai?” Ray let out a little chuckle. “I was trying to find her and she managed to find me instead. That wasn’t the last time she’d end up saving me, of course. After that, we managed to run into each other several other times, until I finally managed to ask her out. Shadowhunters and mundanes weren’t technically  _ supposed _ to have relationships, but your mother wasn’t exactly big on those kinds of rules anyway.” 

“What was it like?” Julie interrupted, “Seeing her fight?” 

He sighed wistfully, “Incredible. She was incredible. Then there was trouble back in Idris, and she and your aunt had to go and fight, and by the time she returned she had decided life was  _ too short, _ and that she wanted to have a family. I suppose she always expected to die at the hands of demons, not cancer.” 

Alex almost felt weird asking, but he had to satisfy his curiosity. “What trouble back in Idris? You don’t… Do you mean with Covington?” 

_ Covington. _ The name instantly rang a bell, but only because it was the one that the demon at the Orpheum had tried to plead for its life with. And it was the one that Julie could’ve sworn she heard the demon at her house say. 

“Covington? Who’s that?” Carlos frowned. 

Ray nodded, “Yes, with Caleb Covington.” 

“Caleb Covington was a Shadowhunter who wanted more power than everyone else, basically,” Reggie replied bitterly. “He died fifteen years ago but before he did, he destroyed the one thing that makes it possible to make new Shadowhunters other than the descendants of existing ones— the Mortal Cup. He had a group of followers, and they were known as the Magicians—” 

“Zero taste,” Carrie muttered under her breath. 

“Thanks, Care, for that  _ vital _ piece of information,” Luke rolled his eyes. “Reg, continue?” 

“Him and the other ‘Magicians’ killed dozens of Shadowhunters and hundreds of Downworlders during the last Accords. We only just about managed to defeat them. Well, I say ‘we’, but I mean our parents and stuff. He didn’t like what the Accords meant for us and had something against Downworlders, he thought they all deserved to die. Obviously the Clave disagreed, and the Accords were eventually signed.” 

Julie frowned, “If Covington is dead, how come the demons keep talking like he’s alive?” 

“Someone has to be using his name to send a message,” Carrie suggested. “The Mercers will probably talk to the Clave about it when they’re in Idris, maybe the Silent Brothers too.”

“Will we be able to go home?” Carlos asked worriedly.

Ray shook his head, “I don’t think that’s a good idea,  _ mijo. _ Besides, we need to figure out why someone talking about Covington would want Victoria.” 

“I want to go back,” Julie decided. “I want to see what’s left, and I need my own clothes. No offence, Carrie.” 

“Julie, I don’t think—” Ray started. 

“It’s probably not a good idea for you to go, Mr Molina, considering you’re a mundane, and Carlos is too young, but one of us can take Julie? Keep her safe?” Alex suggested. 

Ray glanced at Luke for a second, “The last time one of you was asked to keep her safe, she had to kill a Ravener demon.”

Julie whirled around to look at Luke, “So  _ that’s _ why you were following me!” 

“This really isn’t the time for that,” Alex interjected. “And we have to clear it with my parents before they leave for Idris.” 

“Idris!” Julie looked back at her dad. “Why are we going to Idris?” 

“We’re going to Idris?” Carlos’ eyes widened,  _ “Awesome.” _

“No! Not awesome,” she replied firmly. “Dad, I can’t leave.” 

Ray sighed, looking at the others. “Can you give us a minute?” 

The others quietly cleared the room, Reggie offering to show Carlos Alex’s archery set to get him to follow them, much to Alex’s dismay. Luke was the last to go, poking his head back through the door at the last second, “Hey, if you make a decision on visiting the house… let me know, okay? I’ll be in the weapons room or the music room.” 

Julie nodded as he disappeared, turning to face her dad. “I know you want to protect us, but I don’t think I can leave. I want to help them find Tía.” 

“You’re not a Shadowhunter, you’re not prepared,” he warned. “I don’t want you to get hurt, or worse! I want to find your Tia too, but this isn’t how we do that.” 

She thought back to her conversation with Luke. “I’m not  _ not _ a Shadowhunter,” she pointed out. “And I’ll stay with them, the guys and Carrie will watch my back.” 

“You shouldn’t have to have someone watch your back, you’re sixteen!” 

“Please, dad. I want to know more about mom. She  _ lived _ here. The piano in the music room here is the one that sat in our garage for months! It was  _ hers. _ She had this whole other life, and I don’t know anything about it,” Julie pleaded. 

“I can tell you about her, but you have to come with me to where it’s safe,” Ray put his hands on hers. “We can find her old house in Idris, see where she grew up?” 

“I can’t explain it, Papi, but…” she trailed off. “My heart is telling me to stay.” 

They were no strangers to listening to their hearts. Rose’s life motto was to always follow her heart. Her heart told her to become her sister’s parabatai, her heart led her to LA, her heart led her to Ray… whatever happened, she always followed her heart. 

Ray pulled her in for a hug, “Stay with at least one of them at all times, don’t leave the Institute alone, if you hear or see something suspicious then you  _ walk away, _ do you understand me? I will not lose you, Julie, is that clear? Break any one of these rules and I’ll personally come back and bring you to Alicante myself.” 

“What’s Alicante?” 

“Capital city of Idris,” he explained. 

“Damn, you should be putting all these into a trivia game,” she whistled, pulling away to smile at him. “I’ll be careful, I promise.” 

He opened his mouth to say something, before seemingly thinking better of it, before amending his decision  _ again. _ “If you leave now, you should have another four or five hours of daylight.” 

She grinned, “Thank you! Is there anything you want from the house?” 

“Just my good camera, a few photos, and Carlos will want some clothes and his Nintendo.”

“Oh!” Julie had almost forgotten, “I found his phone when I was last at the house, I don’t know if it got burned with—” 

“Thankfully intact, and Luke was holding on to yours so I’ll text you if anything happens— I expect you to do the same?” He suggested hopefully. 

“Of course,” Julie nodded. “Time to find Luke.”

**Author's Note:**

> thoughts? next chapter will be slightly longer :)


End file.
